It's not even fall — but the St. Clair County Road Commission is planning for another onslaught of icy roads and cold temperatures.

The cost to maintain those roads will increase — by $10 to $15 per ton of salt.

"We don't have much choice," said Kirk Weston, managing director for the road commission. "We'll try to use it as efficiently as we can."

Weston said the road commission bid on salt through MiDeal, a program that allows local units of governments to use state contracts to buy goods and services.

According to an email from MiDeal, salt companies have not been able to fully rebuild their stockpiles after the 2013-14 winter. The large demand from depleted road agencies for a smaller supply has caused salt prices to climb.

The road commission will spend about $48.86 per ton for early fill, or salt deliveries the commission receives before November.

After November, salt will cost the commission about $64.69 per ton.

During the 2013-14 winter, the road commission spent about $38.51 per ton on early fill salt, and $46.61 per ton of salt after November 2013.

Weston said, on average, during the past 10 years, the commission uses about 19,960 tons of salt per year.

During the 2013-14 winter, the commission used about 24,611 tons of salt.

Predictions for this winter promise similar biting cold and icy roads.

The latest edition of the Farmers' Almanac forecasts colder- and wetter-than-usual weather for most of the country.

"That's what we're hearing — not necessarily in snow amounts, but in terms of cold, which gave us a lot of trouble last year," Weston said.

Weston said commission drivers will practice "sensible salting" throughout the season, being aware of the amount of salt distributed and controlling their speed to ensure the salt doesn't bounce off the roadway.

Weston said the commission's storage barns still have some salt from last year. The commission will begin taking early salt deliveries next month to fill the barns.

"We'll take as much of this as early as we can," Weston said. He said the commission can store about 13,000 tons of salt at a time.

Barry Kreiner, director of Marysville public works, said salt costs for the city rose about $11 from last year.

This year, Marysville will purchase salt for about $58.73 per ton from Detroit Salt Co. That price stays the same Sept. 1 through April 30.

Last year, Marysville paid about $47 per ton of salt.

"We haven't paid this much for salt in the last five years, probably," Kreiner said.

"We've been bidding this on our own for six years now instead of going through MiDeal."

The city can store up to 2,000 tons of salt at a time.

Kreiner said the city uses an average of 1,600 to 1,800 tons of salt a year. Last year, the city used 2,400 tons.

"Salt was hard to get toward the end of the year last year," Kreiner said.

"They were cutting off mid- to large-sized landscape companies about January."

Kreiner said predictions for the 2014-15 winter are not promising.

"We're going to prepare for a winter just like last year and hope for the best," Kreiner said.

Bob Clegg, Port Huron city engineer, said the city council approved a bid from Detroit Salt Company in June for $52.31 per ton of salt.

Clegg said the city will get an early delivery of about 4,000 tons of salt in October. He said later deliveries, if necessary, also will cost $52.31 per ton.

For the 2013-14 winter, the city paid about $41.03 per ton of salt for backup delivery. An early delivery wasn't necessary because of the light 2012-13 winter.

He said the jump in price is not unusual after a long winter.

"I talked to professionals across the state in the public works industry, and they're all saying their prices jumped 25 to 30 percent," Clegg said.

"When you get a tough winter, everybody uses up supplies, and you're going to get demand the next year."

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259 or eleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc. The Associated Press contributed to this report.